Starship blows up, Trump backs down, Charlie Brown, Peter Pan, Day-O
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Observations by and for the vaguely disenchanted; information, essential and otherwise, for the day ahead.
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Knee Deep in the Hoopla
New Yorker cartoon by Brendan Loper
The Trump/Musk firehose of folly continues, and it’s impossible to review all but the most egregious outrages here. The Associated Press, NBC, Aljazeera, and The Guardian are my picks for keeping up to date. Check out one or two, take a look, and come back here when you’ve had enough.
Please check out the On This Day section below. Lots of interesting events and video links.
SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft exploded during eighth test flight, created a massive debris cloud near populated islands in the Caribbean and Atlantic. (Video)
Trump pauses Mexico and Canada tartiffs- again.
The many unpopular things Trump is doing right now. (Washington Post gift article.)
This wild ancient version of soccer has rules like ‘no murder’ and is still being played today.
How Elon Musk executed his takeover of the Federal bureaucracy. (New York Times gift article.)
Trump warns his Cabinet that Musk can’t actually fire workers.
How Trump policies increase the possibility of World War III: France to open talks to extend nuclear shield for Europe.
Shirt of the day (click on image)
KGB Quote of the Day:
"Sins become more subtle as you grow older. You commit sins of despair rather than lust."
-Piers Paul Read (Wikipedia link)
(More Piers Paul Read quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Among other things, today is- in no particular order of importance-
KGB REPORT STUFF! (Click on link) On This Day:
321 – Roman Emperor Constantine I decreed that the dies Solis Invicti (sun-day) is the day of rest in the Empire.
1530 – English King Henry VIII's divorce request was denied by Pope Clement VII
1644 – Massachusetts established the first two-chamber legislature in the colonies.
1799 – The Royal Institution of Great Britain founded; dedicated to scientific research and education.
1850 – Senator Daniel Webster gave his "Seventh of March" speech endorsing the Compromise of 1850 in order to prevent a possible civil war.
1854 – Charles Miller patented the first sewing machine that could stitch buttonholes.
1876 – Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for an invention he calls the "telephone".
1905 – Arthur Conan Doyle published "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" collection in London after public pressure to revive his famous detective.
1912 – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen announced his team was the first to reach the South Pole (located 14 December 1911), 34 days before British explorer Robert Falcon Scott.
1917 – First jazz record released on a 78 rpm record by Original Dixieland Jass Band for the Victor Talking Machine Company: "Dixie Jass Band One Step," <Video> on the “a” side and "Livery Stable Blues" on the “b” side. <Video>
1925 – American Negro Labor Congress was organized.
1929 – First nonstop flight made from America to Asia across the Bering Strait (Nome to North Cape) by Noel Wien and Calvin Cripe for Wien Air Alaska.
1930 – The New York Times agreed to capitalize the n in "Negro". (On June 30, 2020 the paper announced it would capitalize the b in “Black”.)
1932 – The Ford Hunger March by unemployed auto workers results in four being shot to death by Dearborn, MI police.
1936 – German dictator Adolf Hitler broke the Treaty of Versailles by sending troops into the then demilitarized Rhineland.
1939 – Glamour magazine began publishing.
1946 – Bikini Atoll islanders were evacuated by the US government to make way for a nuclear testing site
1955 – The musical "Peter Pan", starring Mary Martin was broadcast live on NBC as part of "Producers' Showcase" series; attracted a then record 65 million viewers. (Video) Later productions featuring Cathy Rigby were more technically sophisticated and used a flying rig that supported three axes of motion. (Video) The advanced tech allowed her to fly out over the audience.
1962 – The Beatles made their broadcasting debut on BBC radio (Video)
1962 – "Smoking and Health" published by the British Royal College of Physicians, first major report to warn of the dangers of smoking.
1965 – Bloody Sunday: A group of 600 civil rights marchers are brutally attacked by state and local police in Selma, Alabama.
March organizer Amelia Boynton, one of 600 injured on "Bloody Sunday."
1967 – Clark Gesner's musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", based on characters from Charles M. Schulz's "Peanuts", and starring Gary Burghoff, opened at Theatre 80 in the East Village, NYC; runs for 1597 performances. (Video)
1972 – Roberta Flack’s cover of the "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" written in 1957 by Ewan MacColl, was released. (Billboard Song of the Year 1972) (Video)
1975 – US Senate revised filibuster rule, requires 60 senators to limit debate.
1983 – TNN (The Nashville Network) began on cable TV (Video)
1985 – The song and charity single recording of "We Are The World" was released. (Video) At the recording session, there was a spontaneous tribute to Harry Belafonte: a spirited rendition of Day-O (The Banana Boat song). (Video)
1986 – Challenger Disaster: Divers from the USS Preserver locate the crew cabin of Challenger on the ocean floor. (Video)
1989 – Iran and the United Kingdom break diplomatic relations after a fight over Salman Rushdie and his controversial novel, The Satanic Verses.
1994 – The United States Supreme Court ruled in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. that parodies of an original work are generally covered by the doctrine of fair use. Acuff-Rose Music claimed the rap music group 2 Live Crew’s "Pretty Woman," (Video) a parody based on Roy Orbison's rock ballad, "Oh, Pretty Woman" (Video) infringed on their copyright.
1999 - American director Stanley Kubrick died of a heart attack in his sleep at the age of 70. (Video)
2010 - Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Academy Award for best director, for The Hurt Locker. (Video)
2011 – Charlie Sheen was fired from the CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men".
2022 – Global death toll from Covid-19 passed six million according to Johns Hopkins figures, with 57% of the world's population fully vaccinated
2024 – Sweden officially joined NATO, becoming its 32nd member.
Read for free with Kindle Unlimited! Quotes by or about persons born on this date (Click on link after name for quotes):
1785 – Alessandro Manzoni, Italian author and poet (d. 1873)
1792 – John Herschel, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1871)
1849 – Luther Burbank, American botanist and author (d. 1926)
1942 – Tammy Faye Messner, American evangelist, television personality, and talk show host (d. 2007)
1942 – Michael Eisner, American businessman
1963 – E. L. James, English author
1964 – Wanda Sykes, American comedian, actress, and screenwriter
Other birthdays:1875 – Maurice Ravel, French pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1937) (Video)
1934 – Willard Scott, American television personality and actor (d. 2021) (Video)
1940 – Daniel J. Travanti, American actor
1950 – Franco Harris, American football player and businessman (d. 2022) (Video)
1952 – Lynn Swann, American football player, sportscaster, and politician (Video)
1956 – Bryan Cranston, American actor, director, and producer (Video)
1959 – Donna Murphy, American actress and singer (Video)
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